Syria rebels say they have ‘game-changing’ weapons

STRINGS ATTACHED:The Free Syrian Army said it has promised the nations that arm it that the weapons will be used solely to fight the regime and collected after it falls

AFP, DAMASCUS

A Free Syrian Army fighter points his weapon as he takes a position in the al-Sakhour neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, on Friday.

Photo: Reuters

Syria’s rebels have received new types of weapons that could “change the course of the battle,” a rebel spokesman said on Friday, as troops tried to oust opposition fighters from a Damascus district.

The announcement came a day before a meeting in Qatar of the “Friends of Syria,” group of nations that back the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“We’ve received quantities of new types of weapons, including some that we asked for and that we believe will change the course of the battle on the ground,” Free Syrian Army (FSA) spokesman Louay Muqdad told reporters.

“We have begun distributing them on the front lines; they will be in the hands of professional officers and FSA fighters,” added Muqdad, a media and political coordinator for the FSA.

He said the Friends of Syria meeting was expected to officially announce yesterday that its members would arm the rebels.

Muqdad declined to specify what weapons had been received or when they had arrived, but added that a new shipment was expected in the coming days.

He said rebels had asked for “deterrent weapons,” meaning “anti-aircraft weapons, anti-tank weapons, as well as ammunition.”

The apparent influx of weapons comes after the US said it would provide rebel forces with “military support,” although it has declined to outline what that might entail.

“The weapons will be used for one objective, which is to fight the regime of Bashar al-Assad,” Muqdad said.

“They will be collected after the fall of the regime, we have made this commitment to the friends and brotherly countries” that supplied them, he said.

The Friends of Syria talks in Doha, Qatar, will be attended by ministers from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the US.

They are expected to discuss military help and other aid for rebels as al-Assad’s forces press their campaign against the insurgents.

Muqdad said the opposition was expecting “a clear and official announcement by the countries participating [in Doha] on the arming of the FSA. That’s what we are hoping for; that’s what we are waiting for.”